It's bad enough that the Friars are coming off their worst five-game defensive span of the season – one in which they allowed an average of 78.8 points per game — but that inauspicious run also coincides with the arrival of UConn women's basketball team onto their campus tonight.

Providence appears to be catching the Huskies at exactly the wrong time as nation's No. 1-ranked scoring offense (82.9 ppg) could be peaking.

There have been times this season when the UConn offense has waned as different players have tried to work their way through injuries or slumps. There was a span when the Huskies committed at least 18 turnovers in three of four games. There was a stretch of four straight games the Huskies failed to score 80 points, and another string of four they failed to shoot 50 percent from the field.

Most recently there was a falloff when they allowed St. John's to dictate the style of play and take them completely out of their aggressive, uptempo offensive mindset.

Unfortunately for the Friars, all those minor struggles may be behind UConn. The past two games, the Huskies have played as well as they have all season in beating Marquette, 94-37, and DePaul, 91-44.

More important than the scores, the margins of victory or the quality of opponent is the fact that the Huskies are pulling all the pieces of their offense together. They are pushing the ball in transition, taking open shots earlier in the shot clock and finding a perfect balance between perimeter and post play.

While center Stefanie Dolson and wing Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis have provided good inside-outside balance much of the season, the aggressive, confident play of Bria Hartley the past few games has drastically improved the offensive efficiency.

Most of the season, the team has lacked a point guard that could consistently push tempo the way Hartley can. Now she finally has her mind in the right place after struggling all season with lack of confidence caused by an ankle injury.

"I finally am in a good rhythm," Hartley said. "It has been a little rough this year. I have to admit it, but I think it is good that it is finally all coming together. I think it comes from my teammates being out there making plays and continuing to encourage me. I had to depend upon my team a lot, and I think that is what helped me."

Six games ago against Duke, Coach Geno Auriemma reprogrammed Hartley into an aggressive attack mode. It took her a few more games for her ankle to feel pain-free, but in the last two games everything has clicked.

Hartley has averaged 19.0 points, 3.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds the last two games while shooting 60.9 percent from the field and 61.5 percent from 3-point range.

It's vital to the Huskies' success for Hartley to become that third confident scorer.

"When you are making shots and everything becomes comfortable right away, everything becomes contagious," Auriemma said. "People see you make shots. You start making them then the next guy starts making them. That is a great way to play basketball, and that is where we are right now. The ball is finding people. The ball is moving at a good pace, and we are making shots."

Dolson is the perfect complement to Hartley in terms of getting the offense to run smoothly. Where Hartley pushes the ball up court and gets teams back on their heels, Dolson gets the Huskies into a great flow in the halfcourt. She's second on team in assists with 73, trailing only Kelly Faris (96).

"I think I just look to read the defense," Dolson said. "A lot of times if I am open I am going to shoot it, but if I don't then I will obviously willingly try to give my teammates a successful pass. I am definitely happy with the way I am playing. I'm happy with the way the team is playing as a whole."

Dolson is averaging 14.2 points to go with her 73 assists and also leads the nation in field goal percentage at 62.3. Mosqueda-Lewis is leading the team in scoring at 16.8 and is leading the nation in 3-point shooting percentage at 50 percent (69-for-138). Combine Faris' unselfishness and dependability with the fact that Hartley now seems ready to lead the offense, and a lot of things appear to be coming together.

"I think we are comfortable," Hartley said. "I think we always have a focus on the flow of our offense and the tempo. We don't' want to stand around too much. We want to get a good mixture of shots. We have Stef who is a great post presence and then we have people on the outside like me, Kaleena, Caroline (Doty) and Kelly who can all hit 3-point shots. So we have a good mixture of shots so it is hard for teams to defend that because you don't know where points are going to come from."

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